Nebraska elected officials weighed in Wednesday on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid Tuesday at an Omaha meatpacking plant.
ICE went to Glenn Valley Foods Tuesday morning and detained more than 70 people for suspected immigration violations and using fraudulent documents.
Though the raid sparked protests and criticism of the federal government, U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts said President Donald Trump was elected to secure the country’s borders and stop the flow of illegal immigration.
“It’s important to remember that if you’re in the country illegally, you’re breaking the law,” Ricketts said during a phone call with media members. “And while the details are still forthcoming, I’ll continue to monitor the situation and learn more about what ICE and other law enforcement are involved in doing.”
Gov. Jim Pillen blamed former President Joe Biden for what he said was an immigration policy that “absolutely failed the American people for four years.”
“We have to address the issue of illegal immigration, and I support the work of our federal partners to ensure that the law is followed, and I remain supportive of President Trump’s efforts to secure the border,” Pillen said in a statement Wednesday.
Omaha Mayor John Ewing Jr. said the raid reinforced the need for comprehensive immigration reform. At a news conference Wednesday, David Cruz, national communications director for the League of United Latin American Citizens, said a delegation from that group had just come from Los Angeles and stopped off in Omaha on their way to Washington, DC. Cruz asked Ewing what they should tell Congress.
“The thing I would want you to tell Congress is, ‘Let’s develop a comprehensive immigration policy that actually works.’ Right now, what is happening across this country is a lot of fear is being created. We don’t have a comprehensive or even understandable approach to immigration, especially when it comes to our Latino members of this country,” Ewing said.
Meanwhile, ICE provided some details about Tuesday’s raid.
The agency said in a news release some of its agents were assaulted.
“Yesterday, an illegal alien from Honduras brandished a weapon and assaulted federal agents and officers who were doing their job: protecting American citizens, the public and businesses who are being victimized through identity fraud,” ICE acting Director Todd Lyons said in a statement sent to media on Wednesday. “Let’s be clear — this wasn’t just someone ‘out of status.’ This was a violent criminal who attacked law enforcement while they were serving the public, which is why the term ‘criminal alien’ is a distraction.”
ICE said in the release that it detained more than 70 undocumented workers during the raid, which it called the largest in Nebraska since President Donald Trump was reelected. It also appeared to be the largest raid in the state since 133 people were arrested at a tomato greenhouse and packing plant in 2018.
Some of those detained Tuesday had active warrants, prior convictions for driving under the influence or had been previously deported, ICE said. The agency did not mention any of them having violent criminal backgrounds.
The agency said many of those who were detained now face additional charges, including fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents; assaulting a federal officer; resisting arrest; illegal reentry; and/or misuse of Social Security numbers.
The workers detained at Glen Valley on Tuesday were taken from the site on a bus escorted by vehicles driven by ICE agents.
Officials did not say where the detained workers were taken, but a video ICE released to the media appears to show they were at least initially processed at the Homeland Security facility near Eppley Airfield.
Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said he was “not at liberty” to say where the detainees have been taken.
“It means I can’t say… as a law enforcement officer, there is certain information that I can’t divulge, otherwise I enter into committing a crime,” Schmaderer said when asked if that meant he didn’t know or simply couldn’t say.
Douglas County Board President Roger Garcia said his wife’s aunt was among those detained, but the family is not sure where she and other detainees are.
“I heard that many were processed here at the Omaha office for Homeland Security. But after that, where do they go? We don’t know, so we’re hoping that they don’t go far. For people that are able to stay in Nebraska somehow, it’s easier to get them legal representation (than) if they’re sent to a state far away, or maybe even to another country, which we’ve seen cases of that in this year,” Garcia said.
Gary Rohwer, the CEO of Glenn Valley Foods, told several media outlets that the company had used E-Verify, a federal system that helps employers electronically confirm the employment eligibility of their employees.
Ricketts said he’s heard from a number employers who have said there are limitations to using E-Verify.
“Some employers have expressed to me that it’s challenging sometimes if they’re relying solely on E-Verify that, again, what that’s checking is just that the Social Security number is good generally, and if there’s more ways to get better information that would be helpful in verifying people’s ability to take employment,” Ricketts said. “At the end of the day, if the person who is applying for employment is lying to the employer, well, that’s part of breaking the law by the person who’s seeking employment, not on the employer.”